The Age-Friendly Health Systems movement saw a significant milestone when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently added an Age-Friendly Hospital Measure as part of the FY 2025 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule.
Since the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement was launched in 2017, nearly 5,000 care facilities have been recognized as Age-Friendly Health Systems Participants, reaching more than 3.75 million older adults who have received age-appropriate care. Age-Friendly Health Systems is an initiative of the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), in partnership with the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the Catholic Health Association of America (CHA).
The new measure, developed by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in partnership with the American College of Surgeons and IHI, clarifies goals for those working with older patients and incorporates aspects of the ACEP Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation Framework (GEDA) in the provision of care.
Among other things, the measure requires hospitals to have protocols for transferring older patients out of the emergency department within eight hours of their arrival or three hours of the decision to admit them.
“The Age-Friendly Hospitals initiative redefines the way we care for older patients,” Aisha Terry, MD, MPH, president of ACEP, said in a statement. “ACEP is proud to collaborate with healthcare leaders at the highest levels to drive meaningful change that helps physicians, care teams and patients.”
The new quality measure builds on the success of the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement, which popularized the 4M Framework (What is Age-Friendly Health?) METROarrears, METROeducation, METROentation, METROThe measure has five domains (patient-related health care goals, responsible medication management, frailty detection and intervention, social vulnerability, and leadership in age-friendly care) that cover the four elements of the 4 Ms framework.
“This measure draws directly from the experience of emergency physicians and shows health systems how to create a better, safer environment for older patients,” Kevin Biese, MD, MAT, director of the division of geriatric emergency medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and chair of the ACEP GEDA Board of Governors, said in a statement. “Encouraging facilities to adopt ACEP-endorsed best practices can make a difference in the lives of millions of vulnerable patients.”
“The adoption of this measure marks a significant and much-needed shift in the way we deliver health care to our aging population,” said Dr. Kedar Mate, president and CEO of IHI, in a statement. “It is also a turning point for the age-friendly health systems movement, which will now be able to leverage the power and impact of policies and payment models to expand care for the 4Ms.”
